Active ingredients, such as but not limited to drugs or pharmaceuticals, may be prepared in a tablet form to allow for accurate and consistent dosing. However, this form of preparing and dispensing medications has many disadvantages including a large proportion of adjuvants that must be added to obtain a size able to be handled, that a larger medication form requires additional storage space, and that dispensing includes counting the tablets which has a tendency for inaccuracy. In addition, many persons, estimated to be as much as 28% of the population, have difficulty swallowing tablets.
While tablets may be broken into smaller pieces or even crushed as a means of overcoming swallowing difficulties, this is not a suitable solution for many tablet or pill forms. For example, crushing or destroying the tablet or pill form to facilitate ingestion, alone or in admixture with food, may also destroy the controlled release properties, taste masking properties, or otherwise effect the pharmacokinetic properties of the drug.
As an alternative to tablets and pills, films may be used to carry active ingredients such as drugs, pharmaceuticals, dermals, cosmeceuticals, botanicals and the like.
However, historically films and the process of making drug delivery systems therefrom have suffered from a number of unfavorable characteristics, and the industry struggled to develop a commercially viable way to manufacture films for consumers.
Films that incorporate a pharmaceutically active ingredient are disclosed in expired U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,145 to Fuchs, et al. (“Fuchs”). These films may be formed into a sheet, dried and then cut into individual doses. The Fuchs disclosure alleges the fabrication of a uniform film, which includes the combination of water-soluble polymers, surfactants, flavors, sweeteners, plasticizers and drugs. These allegedly flexible films are disclosed as being useful for oral, topical or enteral use. Examples of specific uses disclosed by Fuchs include application of the films to mucosal membrane areas of the body, including the mouth, rectal, vaginal, nasal and otic areas.
Commentators have suggested that examination of films made in accordance with the process disclosed in Fuchs, however, reveals that such films suffer from the aggregation or conglomeration of particles, i.e., self-aggregation, making them inherently non-uniform. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,658,437 (Yang et al., including the instant applicants) discussing Fuchs.
The formation of agglomerates randomly distributes the film components and any active present as well. When large dosages are involved, a small change in the dimensions of the film would lead to a large difference in the amount of active per film. If such films were to include low dosages of active, it is possible that portions of the film may be substantially devoid of any active.
What constitutes true uniformity in a cast film? It is usually not a true molecular uniformity but rather a dispersion of active in which a given size film falls within generally accepted guidelines.
Since sheets of film are usually cut into unit doses, certain doses may therefore be devoid of or contain an insufficient amount of active for the recommended treatment. Failure to achieve a high degree of accuracy with respect to the amount of active ingredient in the cut film can be harmful to the patient. For this reason, dosage forms formed by processes such as Fuchs, would not likely meet the stringent standards of governmental or regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (“FDA”), relating to the variation of active in dosage forms.
Currently, as required by various world regulatory authorities, dosage forms may not vary more than 10% in the amount of active present. When applied to dosage units based on films, this virtually mandates that uniformity of the drug in the film be present.
The problems of self-aggregation leading to non-uniformity of a film were addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,246 to Schmidt (“Schmidt”). Schmidt specifically pointed out that the methods disclosed by Fuchs did not provide a uniform film and recognized that that the creation of a non-uniform film necessarily prevents accurate dosing, which as discussed above is especially important in the pharmaceutical area.
Schmidt abandoned the idea that a mono-layer film, such as described by Fuchs, may provide an accurate dosage form and instead attempted to solve this problem by forming a multi-layered film. Schmidt forms an initial water soluble wet cast film. Next, “an aqueous coating material is prepared from the active ingredient, as well as starches, gelatins, glycerol and/or sorbitol, as well as optionally natural and/or synthetic resins and/or gums, and . . . the coating material is continuously applied by means of a roll coating process and in a precisely predetermined quantity (i.e via coating thickness) to at least one side of the support film . . . . With the aid of modern roll application processes the active ingredient-containing coating can be applied with a constant thickness, so that the necessary tolerances can be respected.”
The Schmidt process is a multi-step process that adds expense and complexity and is not practical for commercial use and is in fact no more a guarantee of uniformity than is Fuchs. In fact, the Schmidt patent has expired without, to the personal knowledge of the instant inventors, any commercial use. Yang et al describe a related approach, wherein, in a cast film, “particles or particulates may be added to the film-forming composition or matrix after the composition or matrix is cast into a film. For example, particles may be added to the film 42 prior to the drying of the film 42. Particles may be controllably metered to the film and disposed onto the film through a suitable technique, such as through the use of a doctor blade (not shown) which is a device which marginally or softly touches the surface of the film and controllably disposes the particles onto the film surface” (U.S. Pat. No. 9,108,340).
Other U.S. patents directly addressed the problems of particle self-aggregation and non-uniformity inherent in conventional film forming techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,003 to Horstmann et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,430 to Zerbe et al. incorporated additional ingredients, i.e. gel formers and polyhydric alcohols in wet cast films, respectively, to increase the viscosity of the film prior to drying.
In addition to the concerns associated with degradation of an active during extended exposure to moisture, the conventional drying methods themselves may be unable to provide uniform films.
The length of heat exposure during conventional processing, often referred to as the “heat history”, and the manner in which such heat is applied, have a direct effect on the formation and morphology of the resultant film product.
Uniformity is particularly difficult to achieve via conventional drying methods where a relatively thicker film, which is well-suited for the incorporation of a drug active, is desired. Thicker uniform films are more difficult to achieve because the surfaces of the film and the inner portions of the film do not experience the same external conditions simultaneously during drying.
Thus according to commentators (U.S. Pat. No. 7,425,292), observation of relatively thick films made from such conventional processing shows a non-uniform structure caused by convection and intermolecular forces and may require moisture to remain flexible. The amount of free moisture can often interfere over time with the drug leading to potency issues and therefore inconsistency in the final product.
Put simply, the practitioner may walk a tightrope between moisture needed for desired mechanical attributes (flexibility of the self-supported film), and potentially deleterious consequences for chemical stability of the active ingredient associated with moisture.
Some discussion of mechanical attributes is important. In a conventional wet cast film, the film is coated on a substrate, dried, then rolled onto itself. The film is then processed, i.e. cut. Typically the edges are removed (trimmed), and the web (width) is cut into sub-width sections that can be accommodated by the film packaging machine (typically called “conversion” of the film). The film may or may not have been removed from its coating substrate, but either way requires sufficient mechanical strength to accommodate this processing.
If films lack the requisite pliability and tensile strength, they will tend to break during packaging causing substantial losses in process yield. Such breakage issues presumably led to the filing of a patent on methods of film splicing by Novartis (Slominski et al US 20060207721 A1). Some pliable, strong wet cast films, use polyethylene oxide (PEO) based compositions (See Yang et al. US 2005/0037055 A1). The strength of these films has led to the subsequent use of PEO in formulations commercially sold by Novartis. The reality is that physical strength and resulting breakage and process yield issues caused by breakage have been significant problems for many of the non-PEO wet cast films.
However, as regards pliability again the practitioner walks a tightrope. If the film is too pliable, it may stretch (elongate), particularly in the packaging stage where the film is under tension in the packaging lanes. Typically, in film packaging, the sub-roll of film is slit into lanes (each lane representing the width of the final dose) and then processed into unit dose foil packages. The final dosage is premised on relatively uniform distribution of drug in the film, and then cutting equally dimensioned pieces of films based on the calculated drug concentration. Hopefully that concentration is known ex ante (before coating), but it can also be determined ex post (after coating).
However, if the film is too pliable, it may stretch under tension (most commonly in the packaging stage here). The effect of such stretching will decrease the concentration of the drug in the film. For a “stretched” film, the given calculated dimensions (that did not anticipate stretch/elongation) will now yield an under-strength dosage form.
As a result, the formulator must provide a film that, when dried, is sufficiently pliable to accommodate conversion. At the same time, the film cannot be too pliable or it will stretch.
Even if the film's mechanical properties are sufficient for conversion and packaging, physical stability of the final dosage form over time is not necessarily assured.
The issue of physical stability is also an issue for wet cast films—expensive barrier packaging is often used as a matter of necessity. Still, physical stability is not always a given. Boots Chemists launched a Vitamin C strip manufactured by BioProgress in Tampa, Fla. that had to be removed from the shelves because it was crumbling in the package—earning the name “chips not strips.”
This story is not unique—many projects have failed to move out from development to commercialization due to physical stability issues.
The formulator must accommodate these needs while still achieving the required performance when used (e.g. desired disintegration time, desired muco adhesion if a buccal film etc).
Conventional drying methods generally include the use of forced hot air using a drying oven, drying tunnel, and the like. The difficulty in achieving a uniform film is directly related to the rheological properties and the process of water evaporation in the film-forming composition as well as but not limited to the matters described above.
When the surface of an aqueous polymer solution is contacted with a high temperature air current, such as a film-forming composition passing through a hot air oven, the surface water is immediately evaporated and theoretically forming a polymer film or skin on the surface. This can seal the remainder of the aqueous film-forming composition beneath the surface, forming a barrier through which the remaining water must force itself as it is evaporated in order to achieve a dried film. As the temperature outside the film continues to increase, water vapor pressure builds up under the surface of the film, stretching the surface of the film, and ultimately ripping the film surface open allowing the water vapor to escape. As soon as the water vapor has escaped, the polymer film surface reforms, and this process is repeated, until the film is completely dried. The result of the repeated destruction and reformation of the film surface is observed as a “ripple effect” which produces an uneven, and often non-uniform film. Frequently, depending on the polymer, a surface will seal so tightly that the remaining water is difficult to remove, leading to very long drying times, higher temperatures, and higher energy costs.
Other factors, such as mixing techniques, also play a role in the manufacture of a pharmaceutical film, particularly a wet cast film, suitable for commercialization and regulatory approval. Air can be trapped in the composition during the mixing process or later during the film making process, which can leave voids in the film product as the moisture evaporates during the drying stage. The film may collapse around the voids resulting in an uneven film surface and therefore, non-uniformity of the final film product. Uniformity is still affected even if the voids in the film caused by air bubbles do not collapse. This situation also provides a non-uniform film in that the spaces, which are not uniformly distributed, are occupying area that would otherwise be occupied by the film composition and more importantly because there is a single mix in prior art casting, voids mean “no active present” here.
Some discussion of coating methods is needed, and the present inventors provide a good primer in U.S. Pat. No. 7,824,588 (Yang et al including the present inventors):
“Coating or casting methods are particularly useful for the purpose of forming the films of the present invention. Specific examples include reverse roll coating, gravure coating, immersion or dip coating, metering rod or meyer bar coating, slot die or extrusion coating, gap or knife over roll coating, air knife coating; curtain coating, or combinations thereof, especially when a multi-layered film is desired. In this procedure, the coating material is measured onto the applicator roller by the precision setting of the gap between the upper metering roller and the application roller below it. The coating is transferred from the application roller to the substrate as it passes around the support roller adjacent to the application roller. Both three roll and four roll processes are common.”
“The gravure coating process relies on an engraved roller running in a coating bath, which fills the engraved dots or lines of the roller with the coating material. The excess coating on the roller is wiped off by a doctor blade and the coating is then deposited onto the substrate as it passes between the engraved roller and a pressure roller.”
“Offset Gravure is common, where the coating is deposited on an intermediate roller before transfer to the substrate.”
“In the simple process of immersion or dip coating, the substrate is dipped into a bath of the coating, which is normally of a low viscosity to enable the coating to run back into the bath as the substrate emerges.”
“In the metering rod coating process, an excess of the coating is deposited onto the substrate as it passes over the bath roller. The wire-wound metering rod, sometimes known as a Meyer Bar, allows the desired quantity of the coating to remain on the substrate. The quantity is determined by the diameter of the wire used on the rod.”
“In the slot die process, the coating is squeezed out by gravity or under pressure through a slot and onto the substrate. If the coating is 100% solids, the process is termed ‘Extrusion.’”
The '588 continues: “The gap or knife over roll process relies on a coating being applied to the substrate which then passes through a ‘gap’ between a ‘knife’ and a support roller. As the coating and substrate pass through, the excess is scraped off. Air knife coating is where the coating is applied to the substrate and the excess is ‘blown off’ by a powerful jet from the air knife. This procedure is useful for aqueous coatings. In the curtain coating process, a bath with a slot in the base allows a continuous curtain of the coating to fall into the gap between two conveyors. The object to be coated is passed along the conveyor at a controlled speed and so receives the coating on its upper face.”
Yang et al, including the present inventors, teach a “selection of a polymer or combination of polymers that will provide a desired viscosity, a film-forming process such as reverse roll coating, and a controlled, and desirably rapid, drying process which serves to maintain the uniform distribution of non-self-aggregated components without the necessary addition of gel formers or polyhydric alcohols.” See U.S. Pat. No. 9,108,340.
Yang et al. strongly rely on viscosity in the pre-cast film solution to maintain drug content uniformity, and on said viscoelastic properties of the film composition to retard and avoid excess migration of drug during both the casting and drying process.
As U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514 (Yang et al.) describes: “the viscosity of the liquid phase is critical and is desirably modified by customizing the liquid composition to a viscoelastic non-Newtonian fluid with low yield stress values. This is the equivalent of producing a high viscosity continuous phase at rest. Formation of a viscoelastic or a highly structured fluid phase provides additional resistive forces to particle sedimentation. Further, flocculation or aggregation can be controlled minimizing particle-particle interactions. The net effect would be the preservation of a homogeneous dispersed phase.”
Yang et al. invoke Stokes' law to support this high viscosity approach. U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514 describes: “One approach provided by the present invention is to balance the density of the particulate (ρp) and the liquid phase (ρl) and increase the viscosity of the liquid phase (μ). For an isolated particle, Stokes law relates the terminal settling velocity (Vo) of a rigid spherical body of radius (r) in a viscous fluid, as follows: Vo=(2grr)(ρp−ρl)/9μ”
Accordingly, claim 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514 requires, inter alia, the following element concerning the viscosity of the film forming matrix: “matrix has a viscosity sufficient to aid in substantially maintaining non-self-aggregating uniformity of the active in the matrix.”
The film compositions of Yang et al. (and other film artisans cited above) are so viscous that mechanical means (i.e. a physical means/physical object) in contact with the composition) are required to form a film by spreading the film composition on to the substrate. Put simply, the compositions are too viscous and have surface tension that is too high to pour. This is helpful in the coating process; after all, if the composition were too flowable it would roll/flow off the substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 8,906,277 (Yang et al.) describes the ability of the mechanical coating apparatus as providing the upper limit on viscosity of the film formulation: “the viscosity must not be too great as to hinder or prevent the chosen method of casting, which desirably includes reverse roll coating due to its ability to provide a film of substantially consistent thickness.”
After the Yang et al. film compositions have been coated, Yang et al. describe a controlled drying process to avoid agglomeration of drug and resultant loss of content uniformity.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514 (Yang et al.) describes: “In conventional oven drying methods, as the moisture trapped inside subsequently evaporates, the top surface is altered by being ripped open and then reformed. These complications are avoided by the present invention, and a uniform film is provided by drying the bottom surface of the film first or otherwise preventing the formation of polymer film formation (skin) on the top surface of the film prior to drying the depth of the film. This may be achieved by applying heat to the bottom surface of the film with substantially no top air flow, or alternatively by the introduction of controlled microwaves to evaporate the water or other polar solvent within the film, again with substantially no top air flow. Yet alternatively, drying may be achieved by using balanced fluid flow, such as balanced air flow, where the bottom and top air flows are controlled to provide a uniform film. In such a case, the air flow directed at the top of the film should not create a condition which would cause movement of particles present in the wet film, due to forces generated by the air currents. Additionally, air currents directed at the bottom of the film should desirably be controlled such that the film does not lift up due to forces from the air. Uncontrolled air currents, either above or below the film, can create non-uniformity in the final film products. The humidity level of the area surrounding the top surface may also be appropriately adjusted to prevent premature closure or skinning of the polymer surface.”
“This manner of drying the films provides several advantages. Among these are the faster drying times and a more uniform surface of the film, as well as uniform distribution of components for any given area in the film. In addition, the faster drying time allows viscosity to quickly build within the film, further encouraging a uniform distribution of components and decrease in aggregation of components in the final film product.”
High viscosity, high surface tension, and difficult flowability is a given in coating line systems. The picture at this link shows (www.matik.com/olbrich-answers-the-call-from-customers/) a standard Olbrich coating line. Olbrich is a leading manufacturer of coating equipment. The coating apparatus is physically below the drying tunnel, with the freshly coated substrate taking off at a severe (high) angle going up to the drying tunnel. When before any drying, it is necessary that the freshly coated film will not roll or flow off the substrate despite gravitational forces associated with this take off angle. It is important to note that drying methodology here is essential to uniformity. In the invention to be described here, the dose unit is confined and the drying method has substantially no role in dosage uniformity.
The Yang et al. approach has proved dominant in the marketplace for film. The most successful commercial orally soluble film product (measured by sales) is Suboxone® thin film, which has exceeded one billion in US sales in certain years. The FDA Orange Book references two patents of Yang and the present inventors in connection with Suboxone: U.S. Pat. No. 8,017,150 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514. A third patent listed in the Orange Book for this product—U.S. Pat. No. 8,475,832 which deals with pH issues specific to Suboxone (as distinct from wet cast film manufacture generally)—has been found invalid by the District Court for Delaware (although this '832 pH patent may be under further judicial appeal).
To date, several sophisticated ANDA filers, including Watson Pharmaceuticals, TEVA Pharmaceuticals (the world's largest generic company with revenues exceeding twenty billion dollars) and PAR Pharmaceuticals, have been unable in judicial proceedings to show non-infringement (or invalidity) of the Suboxone-Orange Book listed patents. Watson and Par and have been forbidden from launching generic film products, and a decision in the TEVA cases is expected shortly.
The next largest commercial orally soluble film success is the acquisition by Sunovion of Cynapsus for $624 million USD to acquire Cynapsus' apomorphine sublingual film. Cynapsus has a licensing arrangement to the same patent estate as Suboxone according to publicly available information (globenewswire.com/news-release/2016/04/04/825387/0/en/Cynapsus-Therapeutics-and-MonoSol-Rx-Announce-Global-IP-Licensing-Agreement.html). Moreover, the owner of the same patent estate recently sued BioDelivery Sciences for patent infringement for its Belbuca™ product, claiming infringement of another progeny of the same patent estate, U.S. Pat. No. 8,765,167 (Yang et al).
The applicants are not aware of any orally soluble film product with significant sales that does not license this patent estate.
The subject of loss (yield) and wet casting must be addressed. As we have discussed, wet cast film compositions are very viscous in the initial mixing stage. This viscosity, together with high surface tension, means that the film composition will experience loss with adhered product in the mixing apparatus and tubing from the mixing apparatus to the coater. Some mild loss may occur on the coating apparatus itself. There will be initial loss of product to bring the coater online until the product is running at standard parameters. Similarly, there will be loss at the end of a run bringing the coater off line (i.e. when too little material remains to maintain the coater running at standard parameters). As discussed, supra, product will be lost in the conversion stage by edge trimming, as well as cases where the width of usable web does not evenly divide by the input width required by the packaging line.
The packaging machine must be brought online (and offline at the end of a run), necessitating waste. Any breakage of film during packaging will result in waste in connection with lost product and restarting of the line. And so on—this is not a non-limitative list, but offers some insight into the innate wastefulness of the process
The fact is that yields of wet cast film products are low, can result in substantial product loss, which is particularly concerning when casting expensive active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) (excipients being relative inexpensive by comparison to API). Loss can be higher than 25% of API, high as 35% API and even approaching 50% API loss. Such API loss may be acceptable for high value branded targets, but ultimately restricts the success of oral soluble film in competitive Rx, OTC and other consumer fields.
The oral soluble film format is generally preferred by consumers over orally disintegrating tablets, but the latter is currently less expensive to make (as compared with wet cast films). For example, generic ondansetron orally disintegrating tablets sell for $8/dose (www.drugs.com/price-guide/ondansetron#oral-tablet-disintegrating-4-mg); whereas ondansetron orally soluble film has a retail price of $35/dose (www.drugs.com/price-guide/zuplenz). In an era when drug prices are under fire publicly, and third party payers take a hard pencil to formulary reimbursement rates, this is a hard price differential to support. For orally soluble film to help deliver value to more patients, a more cost effective method of film manufacture is needed.
One way to avoid some of the product loss associated with wet casting is hot melt extrusion. Insofar as an extruder acts as a mixer and typically starts with substantially dry, non-aqueous compositions, hot melt extrusion avoids mixing loss associated with wet casting.
One of the present applicants has two US patents dealing with hot melt extrusion products and methods: U.S. Pat. No. 9,125,434 (Fuisz) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,613,285 (Fuisz). Hot melt extrusion offers other advantages including a much smaller manufacturing footprint than a wet casting line, and the ability to make longer lasting films/sheets than can be made with wet casting. However, hot melt extrusion as a process has its own limitations (vis a vis wet casting). A principal limitation of hot melt extrusion is a smaller menu of film formers that readily extrude, which makes formulation far more challenging (as compared with wet casting). Taste masking and controlled release may also be harder. Despite its strengths, applicants are not aware of any significant commercial film product made using hot melt extrusion, and applicants believe that the smaller menu of available film formers is a reason for this.
Discussion of the Zydis system is appropriate. The Zydis system is an orally disintegrating tablet, and is classified by the FDA as such (as distinct from orally soluble film). The Zydis system is well regarded for its rapid disintegration (relative to other orally disintegrating tablets), though the system has some limitations in terms of drug loading and taste masking. A primer on the history of orally disintegrating tablets, including reference to one of the present inventors, is available here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orally_disintegrating_tablet.
The Zydis system, which is a freeze-dried tablet, is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,516; 4,305,502; 4,758,598; 4,754,597, and 5,631,023, the teachings of all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully herein stated. The Zydis manufacturing method uses a pre-prepared liquid composition including a solvent, a granular therapeutic agent, and a gelatin containing carrier material.
The liquid composition (including the drug) is placed into one or more shaped depressions in a tray or mold to define liquid composition filled depressions. The liquid composition in the filled depressions is frozen, then the liquid portion of the liquid composition sublimed to define a solid medicament tablet. Sublimation is accomplished by freeze drying and can take several days. Thus, the tablet manufacturing process is not continuous; Zydis tablets-in-sublimation are stored in racks in a special chamber for sublimation. Only after sublimation can they be packaged.
Some mention of the CIMA orally disintegrating tablet is appropriate. The CIMA tablet uses a base-acid reaction (effervescence) to effect oral tablet disintegration. There is some support for the proposition that effervescence enhances buccal absorption. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,604 which is hereby incorporated by reference. Applicants are aware of no commercial oral soluble film product with effervescence, and attribute this to the practical difficulties of including acid and base in a wet cast film composition (without the product prematurely effervescing).
Finally, some mention of three dimensional printing is warranted. 3D printing has garnered much attention as a possible method for manufacturing pharmaceutical dosage forms. The products are printed layer by layer (using binding materials in between the layers of powder to adhere powder one layer to the other). The reality has failed to meet the hype, although a single printed dose product approval was obtained by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals for a product using its Zipdose technology licensed from MIT.
Applicants hereby incorporate by reference their oral film prior patents as if fully stated herein—these include: U.S. Pat. No. 7,425,292 (Thin film with non-self-aggregating uniform heterogeneity and drug delivery systems made therefrom); U.S. Pat. No. 7,666,337 (Polyethylene oxide-based films and drug delivery systems made therefrom); U.S. Pat. No. 7,824,588 (Method of making self-supporting therapeutic active-containing film); U.S. Pat. No. 7,897,080 (Polyethylene-oxide based films and drug delivery systems made therefrom); U.S. Pat. No. 7,972,618 (Edible water-soluble film containing a foam reducing flavoring agent); U.S. Pat. No. 8,017,150 (Polyethylene oxide-based films and drug delivery systems made therefrom); U.S. Pat. No. 8,568,777 (Packaged film dosage unit containing a complexate); U.S. Pat. No. 8,603,514 (Uniform films for rapid dissolve dosage form incorporating taste-masking compositions); U.S. Pat. No. 8,613,285 (Extrudable and extruded compositions for delivery of bioactive agents, method of making same and method of using same); U.S. Pat. No. 8,617,589 (Biocompatible film with variable cross-sectional properties); U.S. Pat. No. 8,652,378 (Uniform films for rapid dissolve dosage form incorporating taste-masking compositions); U.S. Pat. No. 8,663,687 (Film compositions for delivery of actives); U.S. Pat. No. 8,685,437 (Thin film with non-self-aggregating uniform heterogeneity and drug delivery systems made therefrom); U.S. Pat. No. 8,900,498 (Process for manufacturing a resulting multi-layer pharmaceutical film); U.S. Pat. No. 8,906,277 (Process for manufacturing a resulting pharmaceutical film); U.S. Pat. No. 9,108,340 (Process for manufacturing a resulting multi-layer pharmaceutical film); U.S. Pat. No. 9,125,434 (Smokeless tobacco product, smokeless tobacco product in the form of a sheet, extrudable tobacco composition); and U.S. Pat. No. 9,150,341 (Unit assembly and method of making same).